If I had to work it out then it would probably be close on thirty years. A lifetime since I had flipped through holiday brochures for Kerala; and the glossy enticement to spend a few days cruising the backwaters in Kerala. Year after year we had returned to Goa having decided against it. There had…
Surprisingly our 26-hour train from Goa to Delhi arrived on time. Then having negotiated the very efficient and spotless Delhi Metro we came above ground just yards from our home for the night. We were never under the illusion that we were staying in a well-heeled area of Delhi, but the smell of urine on…
We needed Varkala to fix us. Travelling for around six weeks, we were a bit sick. We had suffered from back-to-back colds. We had both been ill in Kochi and were now also sick of moving about. Having reached the end of the world at Kanyakumari we were heading back north. Ultimately back to Delhi…
At the end of October, we were on the move with what seemed like the rest of the Indian population. We were fast approaching Diwali and we were on a local train from Kochi to Kanyakumari. Seven hours in an Air Conditioned carriage in ‘Chair’ seats. The seats weren’t together. After a couple of hours,…
I am infrequently delighted with my room choices. On this trip, only Ahmedabad was an exception. I spend hours pouring over accommodation options, checking out the reviews and where possible cross-checking with other sources. We are driven to keep to the ‘budget’. But I always hope that we will stay in the room we booked. …
After boarding our overnight train from Mumbai, we awoke in Southern India. A rattling night on the rails made sleeping not much more than a doze. It was however, an improvement on the Amritsar to Agra train we took some weeks ago. We pulled into Tivim 40 minutes late. We were beginning to think that…
Agra and our first Sleeper train experience In mid-September, we had our first experience of Indian trains with an overnighter from Amritsar to Agra. It left on time but was two hours late by the time we disembarked at 10 am the following day. We booked our 1st class tickets online. Booking train tickets can…
It was mid-September, and we were in Agra. Sitting atop of our rooftop palace, locally known as the ‘Vacation villa’. We had been discussing the bed, the most comfortable hotel bed I had ever slept in. We were packing away the Kurta, respectful clothes purchased for our wonderful early morning visit to the Taj Mahal….
Our planning for this trip was sparse and almost non-existent. But, we had always planned to spend very little time in Mumbai. There was little we wanted see. We arrived from Ahmedabad. The train between the two cities is a common ‘express route’ so tickets and availability were plentiful. When we arrived in Mumbai we…
Amritsar a journey of unexpected encounters and historical reflections I’m not sure that Amritsar was ever on any ‘bucket list’. But in September 2024 we found ourselves heading to Gatwick to catch the Air India flight there. The start of a long journey. Our return tickets were in three months, home in time for Christmas….